A Flintshire housebuilder has been fined half a million pounds after a scaffolder died when he was hit by a dumper truck.

Ewloe-based Redrow Homes Limited has been fined £500,000 and ordered to pay costs of £101,000 following the death of Henry Jones on a building site in Knotty Ash in 2013, a tragedy witnessed by Mr Jones’ son.

Sub-contractor WPI Civil Engineering Limited, based in Cheshire, was also fined £300,000 and ordered to pay costs of £17,000.

Liverpool Crown Court heard how, on 8 August 2013, Mr Jones, 67, was walking across the Redrow Homes construction site in Knotty Ash when he was struck by a reversing dumper truck.

Mr Jones was crushed under the rear wheels of the vehicle and confirmed dead at the scene.

The incident was witnessed by Mr Jones’ son who was also working at the construction site.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Redrow Homes had made no provision to maintain separation of vehicles and pedestrians in the plot where Mr Jones died.

Henry Jones was crushed to death on the Redrow site in Knotty Ash (Image: Liverpool Echo)

It was heard that the traffic management across the entire site was poorly managed and was an underlying cause of the accident.

The investigation also found that sub-contractor WPI Civil Engineering Limited failed to provide a banksman (a person trained to direct vehicle movement), or have any employees on site trained as banksmen, and that the vehicle involved was not fit to be used on site.

Both companies pleaded guilty to health and safety breaches.

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HSE inspector Jacqueline Western said: “This tragic incident was wholly avoidable. Having safety measures to protect pedestrian workers is a basic and well recognised principle of good construction management.

“Mr Jones’ death could easily have been prevented if both the principal contractor and the sub-contractor had implemented safe systems of work and ensured that health and safety documentation was communicated and followed.”

“Tragically, on this occasion both Redrow Homes and WPI Civil Engineering failed to do this.”

A Redrow Homes spokesman said all at the company had been “deeply affected” by Mr Jones’ death.

They said: “The tragic incident in 2013, which led to the death of Mr Jones, deeply affected everyone involved.

The Redrow site in Knotty Ash where Henry Jones was crushed to death (Image: Google)

“Our thoughts remain with Mr Jones’s family, friends and colleagues, who’ve waited over four years for this case to be heard.

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“Although Judge Goldstone has found that the groundworks contractor was more culpable for this tragic accident, we pleaded guilty to breaches of the Health and Safety Act in connection with failings, on our behalf, relating to traffic management.

“We fully accept Judge Goldstone’s findings.”

The spokesman added: “Health and Safety is our first priority and until this tragic accident we had an unblemished record stretching back over forty years of building.

“Immediately following the accident we reviewed our Health and Safety policies and implemented changes to processes and procedures.